Establish Water Efficiency and Conservation

At the beginning of the Legislative Session, the Governor’s office issued a press release as to what they wanted the drought legislation to look like. We supported these recommendations knowing a comprehensive water allocation study is being worked on for 2009-2010. A large stakeholder process was convened to seek input on what should be included in the drought legislation. A revised bill based on this process is moving through legislative committees. Mandatory minimum water conservation measures are a must for any drought legislation to be effective, but there are many opportunities remaining for this bill to be weakened.

The recent drought – the worst in North Carolina’s history – reaffirmed the importance of managing our water resources wisely and highlighted the fact that North Carolina needs better water conservation, efficiency and drought management policies. This summer, the General Assembly has the opportunity to protect our economy, communities and quality of life from the threat of future droughts.

In 2008, we’re asking the General Assembly to:

Strengthen water use registration and reporting requirements

Ensure local water and drought plans meet quality standards

Make certain that local growth decisions reflect available water supplies

Require new construction to meet efficiency standards

Establish mandatory minimum water conservation standards that would apply during extreme droughts

We believe a growing North Carolina needs a stronger, more comprehensive water policy to prevent water wars. Taking these steps in 2008 will make a lasting impact by protecting communities across the state against unnecessary economic disruption in future droughts.